Nissan has announced 400 new posts, but a Wearside call centre revealed it was axing 900 people.

Staff at the Shop Direct call centre in Hendon, Sunderland, were left in tears when the company told them it was closing the site, which has been open on Commercial Road for more than 50 years and at one point employed 3,000 people.

The call centre’s Shop Direct operations in Burnley and Wales are also shutting, with a total loss of 1,500 jobs.

The group owns Littlewoods, Additions Direct, Very, Empire Stores and Marshall Ward, and bought the Woolworths name in the UK.

The company, formerly called Littlewoods Home Shopping, which is making almost half of its total workforce redundant, blamed the internet for the decision.

It said calls to its contact centres had fallen from 33 million in 2005 to just 19 million today as more customers managed their own accounts online.

The GMB union said it would do everything it could during the 90-day consultation to lessen the impact of the “disastrous” news.

Northern regional officer Mick Hopper said: “This has come as a massive shock to the staff. Just last week staff were doing overtime and working round the clock shifts.

“It was terrible to stand in that room and see men and women crying. Whole families work here.”

Around 50,000 people work in call centres in the region and Sunderland South MP Chris Mullin said he hoped Shop Direct staff would be able to find new jobs quickly.

He said: “I have already talked to the chief executive of Shop Direct and he has assured me that the company will do everything in its power to help the workforce seek work elsewhere.”

One North East chief executive, Alan Clarke, said: “We’re holding discussions with the centre management and a response group led by Sunderland City Council is being formed to ensure that the full support of the public sector is made available to anyone affected.”

But there was celebration at Nissan’s Washington plant where soaring sales have resulted in the need for 400 extra temporary jobs.

Rocketing demand for the Qashqai has prompted manufacturing bosses to introduce a nightshift, which will also secure 160 temporary jobs. Talks about making the 400 new posts permanent will take place in March.

Trevor Mann, Nissan senior vice president for manufacturing in Europe, said: “Qashqai continues to buck the trend of a generally depressed market. This announcement is an indication that there is an underlying confidence is growing in the market.”

Recruitment will begin next month. And it is hoped additional posts will also be created across Nissan’s supply chain.